WORKING MAN

"Potent tribute to out-of-work Americans... This timely drama about factory closures in the Rust Belt features a strong cast of characters includingPeter Gerety, Billy Brown and Talia Shire."

"Robert Jury's affecting drama... deserves attention for the fine performances at the center of this well drawn canvas."

"Shire, known for her roles in THE GODFATHER and ROCKY films... reminds us of what we've been missing."

"Potent tribute to out-of-work Americans... This timely drama about factory closures in the Rust Belt features a strong cast of characters includingPeter Gerety, Billy Brown and Talia Shire."

"Robert Jury's affecting drama... deserves attention for the fine performances at the center of this well drawn canvas."

"Shire, known for her roles in THE GODFATHER and ROCKY films... reminds us of what we've been missing."

SYNOPSIS

WORKING MAN is a classic American story designed for a contemporary world. When the last factory in a small Rust Belt town closes its doors, an unlikely hero emerges in dutiful, quiet Allery Parkes (​Peter Gerety). A career employee of the factory, the aging Allery can’t reconcile how to live a life simply sitting at home doing nothing, and against the advice and pleas of his loving wife, Iola (Talia Shire), he forms an unlikely friendship with his charismatic neighbor, Walter Brewer (​Billy Brown), in order to revive the defunct factory. As their community rallies around them – and as their former corporate bosses strategize how to implode this unexpected movement – Allery learns that he might be something he never thought possible: a leader.

“I grew up in the rural Midwest, so WORKING MAN has a lot in common with places and people I know,” says director Robert Jury. “But it also reflects what’s currently happening and has already happened in a good chunk of working class America. It’s a story that is set in a small, Rust Belt city where financial uncertainty and the fear of factory shutdowns are the norm. It is a place where many wonder what’s happened to the world they once knew.”

WORKING MAN is written and directed by Robert Jury, and produced by Clark Peterson, Robert Jury, Maya Emelle, and Lovell Holder. Katherine Eslao, Tim Ranzetta, Lee V. Stiff, and Morgan R. Stiff serve as Executive Producers. The film stars acclaimed film and stage actors Peter Gerety ​(Amazon’s Sneaky Pete, HBO’s The Wire), ​Billy Brown ​(​ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, Showtime’s Dexter), and 2-time Oscar nominee ​Talia Shire (​Rocky, The Godfather).

CAST

PETER GERETY (Allery Parkes)

Peter Gerety’s film credits include Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Robert Zemeckis' Flight, Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, George Clooney’s Leatherheads, Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War, Spike Lee’s Inside Man, the independent feature Things That Hang From Trees, Syriana, War Of The Worlds, K-Pax, People I Know, Magic Hour, Montana, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Mrs. Winterbourne, Surviving Picasso, Ed Burn’s Ash Wednesday, A Most Violent Year, Cymbeline, Get the Gringo, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, God's Pocket, The Sea Is All I Know, Hollywood Ending and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Gerety will next be seen in Dianne Dreyer’s A Change in the Air opposite Rachel Brosnahan.

Television credits include HBO’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight; Brothers And Sisters, the Tom Fontana/WB series The Bedford Diaries, HBO’s The Wire, Homicide, Law and Order, Ed Burns’ Public Morals, Kidnapped, Daredevil, Madam Secretary, The Black Donnelly's, Elementary, The Good Wife, Brotherhood, The House of Mirth, Central Park West, Third Watch, The Return To Lonesome Dove and the PBS Mini-Series Mercy Street.

Theatre credits include the Broadway productions of the late Nora Ephron’s play Lucky Guy, opposite Tom Hanks and Martin McDonaugh’s The Lieutenant Of Inishmore which transferred after a successful run off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company, the Broadway production of Never Gonna Dance, the Butcher in Susan Lori Park's Fucking A, and as Fluellan in Henry V at N.Y.'s Shakespeare in the Park. Peter worked predominantly on stage for over 30 years, performing in over 100 productions with the legendary Trinity Repertory of Providence, R.I. alone (Adrian Hall, dir.). He has also performed with the Seattle Rep., the Dallas Theater Center, ART in Cambridge, the Huntington in Boston, and in Edinburgh, Scotland; Madrid, Spain; Bombay and Calcutta and Damascus, Syria. Peter has been in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway plays including playing Roderigo to James Earl Jones’ Othello and finally is an accomplished director, primarily with the Dallas Theater Center and Trinity Rep.

BILLY BROWN (Walter Brewer)

Named by the Los Angeles Times as “One to Watch” actor Billy Brown currently lends his strong presence and extraordinary talent to the character of Detective Nate Lahey in the acclaimed Shonda Rhimes-produced crime drama How to Get Away with Murder.

In its first season on ABC, How to Get Away with Murder won numerous honors, including an AFI Award for TV Program of the Year and was nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama. Integral to its appeal is Brown, who plays detective Nate Lahey, the adulterous lover, opposite Viola Davis’s law professor character. Brown’s character is in a much different mindset by putting his career first over anyone and anything – including Annalise. How to Get Away with Murder is currently airing its 5th season.

Previously, Billy starred as a series regular on the CBS drama Hostages, alongside Toni Colette and Dylan McDermott. He is perhaps best known for his role as lead detective Mike Anderson on Showtime’s award-winning drama Dexter, as well as the tough and brutal gang leader August Marks on FX’s Sons of Anarchy. In addition to the FX series Lights Out, his other television roles include Fox’s The Following, opposite Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy, in which he played an FBI agent working to stop a string of mass killings. He recently starred in the Screen Gems thriller Proud Mary, opposite Taraji P. Henson. His other feature-film credits include Cloverfield, Race to Witch Mountain, Star Trek, Lakeview Terrace, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Starship Troopers 2.

With his prominent work on projects such as Dexter, which earned a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, the Los Angeles Times included Billy Brown on its 2011 “Ones to Watch” list. He’s also one to listen to, considering his voice work in film and TV projects including The Wild Thornberrys Movie and Transformers Prime, plus his ongoing role as the exclusive voice of commercials for the United States Marine Corps.

TALIA SHIRE (Iola Parkes)

Talia Shire is best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and as Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series. For these legendary performances, Shire received two Oscar nominations: Best Actress for Rocky and Best Supporting Actress for The Godfather: Part II. Additionally, she received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Rocky, and she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to her dozens of screen credits, Shire has also starred in such acclaimed films as David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto (based on James Franco’s book), and her son Robert Schwartzman’s directorial debut, Dreamland, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. On television, Shire has recently appeared in recurring roles on the Emmy-nominated hit Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie and the boxing drama Kingdom.